Year of the Fox
by HiddenWhiteFang
Summary: It's been a year since the events of the Chuunin Exams. Just when things looked like they might be normal, a mysterious Clan of ninja appears and begins to slaughter villages. Using a toxin that attacks the chakra network, they are able to incapacitate Naruto. Now it's up to Sasuke, the temporary Hokage, to get to the bottom of this new Clan, stop them and save Naruto from himself.
1. Perfect

_Author's Note: Yeah, I'm slacking on things, and I don't know why I'm posting another story when I'm having so much trouble writing. But, to all who want to know what's going on with me… Well, I moved to Japan last month! So, that's why my stories have been a bit MIA. I'll see the reaction to this one!_

 _Disclaimer: You know the drill. I don't own Naruto_

 _Chapter One: Perfect_

 _Humanity is a disease… The Earth is infected by imperfect creatures; ugly creatures. There is no hope for the world as long as humanity is allowed to exist. Wars will continue to rage on Earth. Even those who wish to save it only end up causing it more pain. Those are the true fools. At least others can admit that they are only causing the world harm and suffering. But there are those who know nothing; who believe that they are only doing right by the world. Those are the ones I truly cannot stand. The only way humanity can be cured is by destroying it and starting over. I have dedicated my life to the teachings of our group. For generations, we have cultivated a single race of humans. We bred them like dogs. They are the perfect ones; without hate in them. They do not have the disease of humanity in them. They will rule the world. But, before they can, we must eliminate all the imperfect creatures of this world. Once that is done, we will own the world and we will create it in our image._

An elderly man placed the quill down after signing the journal. It would be his final entry. He looked at his shaking hands and frowned. Luckily, he had been able to write his words perfectly. The door opened slightly behind him.

"Master! You should not be up!"

The man turned to the door to face a young woman in the doorframe. "The time has come, child," he said with a smile.

The woman blinked, then nodded. "Of course, Master." She walked to a water basin and filled a cup. As she did, she added a milky substance to the drink. The man made his way to the bed and settled.

"Are they ready?" he asked.

"Of course, Master," the woman said with a nod. She handed him the drink and he took it with a slight smile. "They were, by his design, born ready."

The man nodded. "Perfect. You know what must be done now, child, right?"

"The Great War," she said quietly. "The final war."

"Yes. Make no demands and take no prisoners. No one must be left, you understand this, right?"

"It is what you have taught us," she answered. "We will not fail you, or him, Master."

"My only regret is that I cannot see the beauty myself." He drowned the drink and laid back onto the bed with a content sigh. "Once we take this country, child, the others will start putting up their defenses. Before making any drastic moves on capitols, make sure you have prepared."

"Of course, Master. It is what you have been training us for. Do not fear, for we will only do his will. Rest easy."

The man smiled and closed his eyes. "The fate of our race is now in your hands. The world is not prepared for us, and we will use that to our advantage."

The woman smiled down at the man until his labored breathing stopped. No one in their Clan died of natural causes. When the elderly became weak, they would drink and then sleep. It was a peaceful death. The woman arranged the man's body on the bed and then turned to his journal. She picked up the quill and smiled softly.

 _And in our image, the world will flourish. It is time we cured humanity._

 _Break_

"Three civilian villages destroyed in the past month. No survivors in any." Naruto shook his head and looked up. Sasuke was standing before his desk looking worse for wear as he explained what had drove him to come back to Konoha before his check-in. "They were completely obliterated. Crop and farmlands were laid to waste and homes burned to the ground. Even the bodies were destroyed."

Naruto bowed his head. They had no distress calls. No one was laying siege to their villages. He looked at the map that showed the location of the three destroyed villages, but no pattern was visible. The Fire Daimyo shook her head from where she stood. "Have they made any demands?"

"None," Sasuke said quietly. "They leave no trace of who they are and no village is taking credit for the attacks. We can only assume as of now that this is a group unaffiliated with any country."

"Are we the only ones getting hit?" Naruto asked.

"That would be something you would need to ask the other Kage and Daimyo. I have gotten no word of the other villages and whether or not they are getting attacked."

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought. "Do we have an idea of where they are going to hit next?" he asked. Sasuke shrugged. "We can't afford to send a special ops team to every civilian settlement in the Land of Fire!"

"Maybe we don't need a Special Ops team," Sasuke suggested. Naruto looked up at him expectantly. "We just need to send one warm body to each village and once it is under attack, he or she will send a distress signal, and then our special ops team can move in."

"Would there be enough time?" The Daimyo asked.

"If we are swift. It takes a few hours at least to slaughter an entire village. The scars left in the settlements don't suggest an overtly powerful fighting force. We haven't had a chance to examine a body, but for the most part, it seems as if the group isn't using extremely powerful jutsu to accomplish their attacks."

Naruto sighed. It was the only option they had at the moment. "Fine. I will deploy a squad tonight." He leaned back in his chair to stare at the map. Three villages full of men, women and children were gone without a warning. What kind of people would do this? And why? He stood. "Walk with me, Sasuke," he said, nodding to the Daimyo as he did. She didn't seem to mind. This was a military operation, after all.

Once they were outside, Naruto leaned against the wall. "I think I know where they're going to hit next."

Sasuke blinked. "How would you know that, Naruto?"

"Because these locations have no strategy. They are trying to lure me out."

"Why not just attack Konoha, then?"

Naruto shook his head slowly. "Why would they go after a hornet's nest if they just want one hornet? You said yourself that they don't seem to have any major strengths. Attacking a village full of ninja would be military suicide."

"So they're just going to lure one of the strongest living ninja alive out to fight them instead? That's not a good military strategy, unless they know they can beat you. You'd be walking into a trap, Naruto."

Naruto sighed and leaned against the wall. He wasn't sure what to say to Sasuke. The theory made sense. If they were luring him out, then they had to have a way to defeat him. "They won't know what hit them, Sasuke," Naruto assured him.

"Let me go."

"If they wanted you, they would have used a different strategy," Naruto reasoned.

"Exactly!" Sasuke snapped. "They want _you,_ Naruto! This could very well be a trap!"

"Even if it is, they won't stop until they get what they want. It's the only way to stop them before more people are killed!"

Sasuke sighed and leaned against the wall. "At least let me come with you."

Naruto shook his head slowly. "No. If something _does_ happen to me, then I need you to be Hokage until the entire mess is cleared up."

"When did you become so mature?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a moment. "After what happened last year, I've been planning. I learned that I wasn't invincible and that people _can_ come into this village, and sometimes I can't stop them. The world isn't perfect. I just wanted to make sure that if something does happen to me, the village will be prepared to move on."

"Well look at you. You do realize you weren't in any real danger, right?"

Naruto sighed. "But next time I could be. I'm going. I will take a small team with me."

"If you say so, Hokage."

"Good. After I deploy the squad tonight, then I, and a few others, will head out to an outlier village, evacuate the villagers and meet these psychos before they kill anyone else."

 _Break_

"He's going to get himself killed," Sasuke snapped.

Kakashi looked up from the book that he was reading. They were in his home office. Sasuke was leaning over the desk and Sakura stood at the back of the room by the door. Kakashi couldn't help but think that this was a way to show that he wasn't getting out of this conversation. "Naruto is a grown man, Sasuke, and the Hokage. He will do what is best for the village."

"But he won't do what's best for him!" Sakura retorted.

"That's what it means to be Hokage," Kakashi reasoned. "I know why you two are worried, but Naruto will do what he has to do to save this country."

"We don't even know that's what they want!" Sasuke snapped. "Why would he even jump to that conclusion? We weren't even close to arriving to that! There was no evidence! His logic and reasoning wasn't even sound, but he was so sure that was the answer!"

Kakashi blinked. Sasuke was right about that. That wasn't a conclusion Naruto would jump to. He stood. "You two don't have to worry about Naruto," he assured him. "But I'll go knock some sense into his thick skull as a teacher if it'll help you two sleep tonight."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Sure."

"Alright. Then you start taking command. I'll need you ready to move. Make sure Shikamaru, at least, knows that you are acting Hokage for the next 24 hours." With that, the man left the room without another word. He kept his head down as he hurried to the Hokage's office. Naruto was acting strange and he didn't like it. The man would never suggest going alone without any evidence that it would be appropriate.

Kakashi opened the door to the office. "Are you out of your mind?"

Naruto looked up from the scroll he was reading and frowned. "Hello, Kakashi," he said calmly.

"You're going on a mission by yourself that could very well get you killed and you don't have a reason for this!"

"I told Sasuke-"

"The reason you gave Sasuke is completely idiotic! This isn't something you do on a hunch, Naruto! You are the leader of a village!"

Naruto sighed and picked up a scroll made with black parchment. "I had a reason," he muttered. "But you can't tell anyone." He tossed the scroll to Kakashi and he caught it. The characters were written in white ink. He read over the brief message and then looked up at Naruto. "When did you get this?"

"An hour after the third attack," Naruto answered. Kakashi looked down at the scroll again. It was a simple message. They wanted to meet with Naruto about the attacks and how to end them. They wanted him to come with a small party and they didn't want him telling his advisors.

"And you think this is a good idea?"

"No, I don't. That's why Sasuke is my stand in. If this goes south, I need to know the village will be in good hands."

"Who are you taking, then?"

Naruto sighed. "I don't want any of them to get hurt."

"You aren't going alone!"

"I know!" Naruto snapped. "But what do I do, Kakashi?! What _can_ I do?"

"What's got you so spooked about this?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto shook his head slowly. "They attacked this country without making demands. They slaughtered innocent people without reason! They don't act like normal people, Kakashi! What do they want?"

"Judging by this, you," Kakashi answered, holding the scroll.

"But why? What could anyone possibly want with Kurama now?"

"What makes you think that it's Kurama they want?"

"What would they want with me, then?"

"I guess that's what we're going to find out."

"We?" Naruto repeated.

"Well, you can't expect me to let you go alone, now can you?" Kakashi asked.

"No."

"We're also going to take Boruto with us."

"No!" Naruto snapped.

"Naruto, he came last year."

"And nearly lost his arm doing it!" Naruto retorted.

"He'll be fine, and so will I, and so will you!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Fine, but I will tell Boruto and Hinata myself. I expect you at the gates in two hours."

"Pick a fourth member," Kakashi called after the man as he walked out of the room. He sighed and turned back to the black scroll. There was something odd about how the whole thing was written. It was a challenge, but it wasn't something they were experienced with. What would a group like this gain from slaughtering people? If they wanted the attention of the hidden villages, they now had it, but it didn't make any sense.

 _Break_

"Boruto!" Naruto called from the bottom of the stairs. It was late day and the students were finished with their training for the day. The boy stepped out of his room and looked down. Naruto frowned. He was wearing a different shirt than his usual jacket. It looked like he had plans that night. His headband was off and he had civilian clothes on.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Mission," Naruto said. He winced as he noticed how Boruto's face fell. "I'm sorry. Did you have plans tonight?"

"Just dinner with Shikadai and Mitsuki," Boruto said with a shrug. "I'll give them a call and tell them I can't come. What's the mission?"

"Recon," Naruto lied smoothly. "It'll just be tonight. Reschedule for tomorrow and tell them it's my fault."

"Sure. When are we leaving?"

"Two hours, at the gate." Boruto nodded, waved and then disappeared into his room. Naruto shoved his hands into his pocket. "Where's your mother?" he called.

"I think she went shopping for stuff for dinner with Himawari!" Boruto called through his closed door. Naruto nodded and took off towards the market.

"Hinata!" he called when he spotted her. She turned and smiled.

"I wasn't expecting you to be done at the office so soon," she said. "I heard that there's some trouble in the civilian settlements."

"Yeah," Naruto said. He sighed. "That's what I'm doing tonight. It's a recon mission. Boruto's coming along. Kakashi too."

Hinata cocked her head. "Recon? That's not usually a mission for the Hokage…"

Naruto bit his lip and then looked at his daughter. He smiled and offered her a few coins. "Go get a drink," he said, shooing her away. Hinata watched with a frown. Once the child was out of earshot, Naruto looked at Hinata. "It's not a recon mission," he said. "It's a trap. At least, we're fairly certain that it's a trap."

"What?"

"The people who have been attacking the civilian villages have made some odd demands. They want me to meet with them. Kakashi and I are certain that it's a trap."

"And you're bringing Boruto?" Hinata asked.

Naruto sighed. "It was Kakashi's idea. I think he thinks that it will prevent me from doing something stupid like surrendering to save the village."

Hinata narrowed her eyes. "Would you?"

"I don't know what they want."

"Then I'm coming too," she snapped.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't want you to. If it is a trap, Boruto and Himawari don't need to lose both parents in one night. Besides," he added with a smile, "they won't be able to defeat me! We're all worrying about nothing! I'll put an end to all of this!"

But she wasn't smiling. She was staring at him with narrowed eyes. "You're just bringing Kakashi and Boruto?" she asked. "Boruto's hardly a Chuunin! You need someone else."

"Someone else would just be one more person for me to keep track of. We'll be fine, Hinata!" His smile faded and he became serious. He reached up and touched her chin gently. "I promise."

"And you never go back on your word," she whispered. "When do you leave?"

"A couple hours," Naruto answered. He went to say something else, but got cut off by Himawari running back with a canned drink in her hands. "Well, I'm off! I'll see you two in the morning!" He waved with a smile and started walking away.

"Naruto!" Hinata called. He stopped. "I love you!"

Naruto smiled and threw up a thumbs up. "I love you too!" he said without looking back. His stomach was twisted, but he didn't let it show as he moved through the streets.

" _What has gotten into you?"_

" _That's a bit of an odd statement coming from you," Naruto said. He was with the fox now._

" _You seem distracted about this one."_

" _There was something about that scroll," Naruto confessed. He hadn't wanted to tell anyone about it in case he was wrong. "It felt… wrong. Like, there was chakra on it, but it was cold. I can't describe it. It felt almost dead. I don't know what we're dealing with here, but it's not something we've dealt with before."_

" _What do you mean?" Kurama asked._

" _I don't know. The scroll itself was a message, not just the words written on it."_

" _Something sinister?" Kurama asked._

" _No," Naruto answered with a shake of his head. "Something… unfeeling. Something unnatural. I can't describe it, but whoever wrote on that scroll clearly has something about them." He shook his head. Kurama stared at him for a moment._

" _What is wrong?" he asked._

" _Nothing."_

" _You are not acting like yourself, Naruto. Something is wrong."_

 _Naruto sighed. "I can't explain it," he admitted. "I just feel like something is off. Like I don't feel sick or weak, I just feel… Off."_

" _Well, it would be good to remedy that before we head off to a potentially suicide mission, yes?"_

 _Naruto smiled. "Sure."_

Two hours later Naruto and Boruto were standing at the gates. "I knew he'd be late," Naruto grumbled. Boruto smiled. "How did they take the news?"

"They were jealous They said that since my dad's Hokage, I get all the good missions."

"You should have invited them along," Naruto said.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted that, but I thought about it."

"We don't need the backup."

Boruto looked behind Naruto and into the village. "Uncle Hatake doesn't share your logic."

Naruto turned and narrowed his eyes. Kakashi was walking towards them with Sakura and Sai trailing behind him. "Sensei!" Naruto snapped.

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"What is the meaning of this?" Naruto asked, crossing him arms.

"Did you really think we'd let you go on this mission with just two people, especially since one of them is a genin?"

"Chuunin," Boruto grumbled.

"Never mind that," Sakura snapped. "The point is, Naruto, this is stupid and you know it."

Naruto looked between Sakura and Sai and then sighed. At least they could have warned him. The captain of their medical squad and ANBU were coming on this mission, along with their Hokage. _Let's hope Sasuke doesn't show up or we'd be in a lot of trouble,_ he teased the fox.

Kurama sighed. _"You are not being funny."_

" _I just have a feeling about this one, Kurama,"_ Naruto thought with a shrug. He looked at their ragtag team and smiled. "Looks like Team Seven is back at it again!" he said, nodding knowingly to Sai. "Let's go!"


	2. Darkness

_Author's Note: So, yeah, I'm working on finding my bearings for the stories that are unfinished right now. There's a problem with my hard drive, so... yeah. As for this... Enjoy!_

 _Chapter Two: Darkness_

Naruto was unnaturally silent as they headed towards the fated village. Boruto was in the middle of the party, right between the four adults. His father wasn't barking out orders. He seemed lost in thought. Boruto shook his head and gripped his kunai tightly.

"Don't worry."

Boruto turned to see Sai had caught up with him. "I'm not worried," Boruto grumbled. He didn't want Sai to think that he couldn't handle a simple recon mission.

Sai smiled. "What we have here won't be anything more than we can handle," the ANBU captain assured him. "Don't you worry, Boruto."

"I told you I wasn't worried," Boruto muttered, staring ahead of him. "But dad's acting weird."

"You've never seen your father get real serious about something like this, have you?" Boruto shook his head. Sai nodded. "Naruto has an interesting way of looking at the world. Most of the time, he's a complete goof… but sometimes, when the situation calls for it, he's serious and focused."

Boruto sighed and faced forward as they ran. Was that really all? WAs Naruto just focused intently on their mission, or was something else going on? He wasn't sure, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out either way. He had already almost lost his father once and he wasn't eager to go through that again. "I'm worried about him," he confessed.

Sai offered Boruto a kind smile. "You shouldn't. Naruto is powerful. You've nothing to worry about."

"Thanks…" Boruto whispered. _But why can't I shake this feeling that something is very wrong…?_

* * *

They arrived at the small outlier village at midnight. Naruto sent the team members in different directions, except Boruto, who was stationed with Sakura. Naruto stepped into the middle of the street. He could feel life stirring in the homes. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Greetings, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto tried to pinpoint the location of the voice, but it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

"We are glad you came."

It was multiple voices speaking. He could tell that now. The thought sent shivers down his spine. A dark shadow moved to his right, but he didn't react. Another moved to his left. He clenched his fists. "I'd rather not fight," Naruto said calmly. "It won't end well for you."

"So confident in your abilities. You are outnumbered."

"You are outclassed," retorted Naruto. "Show yourself!"

There was a sinister laugh that echoed through the streets. Naruto clenched his fists. He tried to count the number of voices he heard, but he couldn't. They blended in perfect unison. "I don't know what's so funny."

"That's because you don't understand the joke."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. This was one single voice. It was female and directly in front of him, yet he saw nothing. "Who are you?" he asked.

"What an odd thing to ask," the woman hissed. This time it felt like she was whispering directly into Naruto's left ear. He turned to face that direction. No one was there. He held up his hand to hold off his team. He didn't want to spook them yet. He took a deep breath. The clone he had deposited outside the village vanished and the sage chakra it had been gathering flooded him. He scanned the area. There were civilians in their homes. There seemed to be about thirty hostile chakra signatures… but what bothered him was that he couldn't quite distinguish how many there were and where exactly they were. "You are trying to locate us," the woman said with a soft giggle.

"Why is that funny?"

"We've evolved beyond your knowledge of chakra."

Naruto blinked slowly. "What does that even mean?"

There was another laugh. "The fact that you have to ask that means we truly are not on the same level."

"No… we're not," Naruto whispered. "Show yourself."

Finally, another shadow moved and this time Naruto felt the chakra moving with it. A woman stepped out into the street. She was tall and slender, but was all muscle under her tanned skin. She looked like she might be from the Cloud Village. Her hair was short and white and her eyes were dark purple that seemed to shine in the moonlight. "Happy?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Why have you started attacking the Land of Fire? What are your demands?"

"We have no demands."

"Then what are you doing this for?" Naruto asked cautiously. "We can negotiate."

"We don't negotiate with people like you."

"What kind of person am I?" Naruto asked.

"A lesser being."

"And what the heck does that even mean?"

"For centuries, our ancestors have cultivated and bred only the best of each mother's lot. We are the result of careful and selective mating among our Clan."

Naruto sighed. He had dealt with crazy before, but breeding humans like dogs was a new one. "Incest?" Naruto asked.

"They were careful. We call it a Clan, but not like you think. The best way to keep a healthy bloodline is to keep it mixed."

"Then how is it purified?" Naruto asked. He wanted to keep her talking. He didn't care about how their strange cult kept itself healthy. He was giving the others time to regroup and formulate a plan of attack.

"I wish not to discuss this with you. It does not matter. You will all be dead."

Naruto shook his head. "Dead? Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?"

"Your death," she answered without emotion.

"Just mine?"

She gestured around them. " _Your_ death. Everyone. We are the superior creatures of this world. You are not, and therefore you must die. There is only room in this world for the perfect ones. You don't belong in this world."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "So, your end goal is mass genocide?" he asked.

"Of course. There is no greater goal than the purification of this world!"

"You're insane!"

"I assure you, Uzumaki, that we are all quite sane here. We have essentially bred mental illness out of our bloodline."

"That's not what I meant!" Naruto snapped. "You're talking about ending the lives of millions of innocents because you feel they are unworthy of life! There is nothing sane about that!"

 _I do not think a prolonged confrontation with them is wise,_ Kurama muttered. _I cannot fully analyze their chakra. They seem to have an odd signature. I have never felt anything like it before. I fear we are dealing with something new here._

 _Explain,_ Naruto thought.

"Is the purification of the world truly insane?" she asked.

 _It is like language…_

"When it involves slaughter, yes," Naruto snapped.

 _Sometimes different dialects become other languages…_

"But we have fought for the right to be the ones to end the world."

 _But they still hold onto things from their mother language, so a speaker of the first language can somewhat understand what a speaker of the second language is saying, even without understanding all the words._

"What about those who have fought for their right to exist in this world?" Naruto asked. _Get to the point, Kurama._

"We simply fought harder," the woman said with a shrug.

 _Sometimes there are languages that have developed without the influence of another language. When encountered by people who do not speak that language, they cannot begin to understand what is being said._

"Who's to judge who fought harder?"

 _It is the same with this chakra. It is untouched by other chakra lines, so I cannot read it. It is unfamiliar._

"Only the gods can judge who fought harder. Supposedly whoever is standing at the end of the day is the one who fought harder, wouldn't you say?" she asked.

"No." _What does that mean, Kurama? Chakra is chakra, isn't it?_

 _In a sense, yes, but some chakra is stronger than others. Some behave differently than others. That's why we have Clans in the first place. This Clan must have broken away during the Sage's time and since then they have refined their own chakra… Mutated it… bred it like dogs. Sure, they are related to your chakra, but like how a pug is related to a wolf._

 _I'm sure they go down just like any other humans._

"Right now you are probably trying to think of a way to defeat us. You must have realized that we are different from you, even if you don't want to admit it. You cannot deny that we are stronger."

Naruto sighed and stepped forward. He tried to act like he wasn't concerned, but he was indeed weary. "I've learned enough about you to know that you need to be stopped." He ran at her, quick as lighting, but she was quicker. Before he could alter her course, he was flying into a smoke screen. Like any trained ninja, he through his sleeve over his mouth to avoid breathing in the fumes, but he was a second too late.

He could feel some of the tainted air hit the back of his throat. _It's not a lot,_ he told Kurama, who nodded.

But just as soon as he finished that thought, his eyes widened. The small amount that had gotten in seemed to have been enough. Suddenly his entire throat and chest convulsed. The toxin was causing spasms in his lungs, forcing him to gasp for air. Under normal circumstances, he would be holding his breath, only taking in short, shallow breaths. A sleeve didn't protect against everything. But with this toxin causing such spasms, he was sucking in air more than he would be had he been able to avoid it.

 _Kurama! What is it?!_ Naruto gasped, dropping to his knees. His sleeve had slipped and he was now breathing in the tainted air. He could feel his lungs and throat burning. He could feel the poison coating his mouth and tongue. It burned his eyes, disorienting him. He could feel the fox's chakra working to metabolize the poison out of his body.

 _Hold on, Naruto!_ Kurama shouted. Naruto clenched the ground.

 _Get it out!_ He could now feel his heart racing as adrenaline pumped through his system. It felt like a heart attack. He prayed that the others stayed back. Anyone else would have been dead by now. The fox's chakra was the only reason he was still breathing.

He collapsed. When he opened his eyes, he was staring at the fox. The massive creature was focusing intently on getting the toxin out of his body. "What is it?" Naruto asked, more calmly than last time.

"I'm not sure. I can usually deal with this."

Naruto turned and looked at the boiler room, and his eyes widened. Black tendrils were reaching into the room. Naruto gasped and grabbed his stomach, crying out in pain. He dropped to his knees. "Naruto!" Kurama shouted.

"G-get… it… out!" Naruto snapped. Kurama shook his head but the black vines continued coming. Where ever they touched, black residue was left. One touched the water in the room and black ink spread from the vine. Naruto grabbed his head and screamed.

"It is attacking the chakra network!" Kurama tried to explain even as the black spread in the room.

"It's not a nerve gas?" Naruto asked through the pain.

Kurama shook his head. "No! I do not know what it is doing!"

"Do something about it!" Naruto shouted, panic rising in his voice. The water was turning black around them. Kurama pumped more chakra into Naruto. Outside, his body began glowing yellow as the fox tried to heal the damage. Around him the blackness stayed away, but the vines reached for Kurama; the biggest source of chakra in the room. "Kurama!" Naruto screamed. He stood and started running through the black water as the vines wrapped around the thrashing fox, digging into his fur and skin. "Leave him alone!"

Outside the fog was clearing. Naruto's body was laying on the ground, half comatose, eyes staring dully forward, but the yellow glow didn't die or fade. He was just left gasping for air.

* * *

Sakura held Boruto back for as long as she could. "He can handle himself, Boruto," she hissed.

"He's screaming!" the child snapped. Sakura shook her head and put her hand on the com-link.

"What do we do, Kakashi? Can you see anything?"

"I can't see through that fog! We didn't account for a gas attack, so we don't have masks for that."

So they waited until the attack cleared. Once it did, they moved forward. The enemies in the area didn't seem concerned when the group came to Naruto's aid. Sakura thrust Boruto into Sai's arms. "Get him out of here."

"Hey!"

"Don't argue with me, Boruto!" Sakura snapped. She ran passed the woman Naruto had been speaking to and hurried to his side, sliding in the dirt. She checked his pulse. It was erratic and irregular. "He's going in to shock, Kakashi!" she shouted.

The woman smiled softly as Kakashi came to her side. Naruto wasn't moving. "We developed a chakra gas. We knew that Naruto would be a threat to our plans, so we needed a way to defeat him."

"Shut up!" Sakura snapped as she tried extracting the poison.

"It's too late. There is no cure for the toxin."

"I said shut up!"

She looked down at Naruto. He wasn't moving. She touched his face. "Why isn't the cloak disappearing?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know," Sakura whispered. He rubbed his cheek. "Naruto…?"

He answered her by screaming. Sakura jumped back away from Naruto as he sat up, holding his head and howling in pain.

"Interesting…" the woman said. "It should have killed him."

Naruto clawed at his head as he writhed in pain on the ground. "Dad!" Boruto screamed, running towards them.

"Stay back!" Sakura snapped, but Boruto didn't listen. He knelt in front of his father. Naruto shoved his son away.

"Dad… What's wrong? We'll get you home and…" He trailed off as he noticed Naruto's yellow chakra cloak had black speckles throughout and those small stains were growing.

"Very interesting…" the woman behind them said. "Move out! We're finished here!" Sakura turned as Sai and Kakashi charged the woman, leaving her and Boruto at Naruto's side.

Boruto stared down at his father with concern. He didn't know what to do. "What's happening to him?"

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know, but we have the neutralize the poison and then get it out of him before the damage is permanent!"

"What can I do?"

Sakura shook her head. This wasn't like the poison that Sasori had used. This was fast acting and ugly. She didn't have time to analyze it and come up with an anti-dote. All she could do was extract it, but it wasn't coming out fast enough. The black dots were now large stains on the chakra cloak, but what worried her was that Naruto was no longer screaming. He seemed to have entered a sort of waking coma.

She looked at Boruto. He was holding his father's hand, crying. And then, all the sudden, Boruto was screaming. Sakura spun again. Naruto had struck the boy. There was blood on his now black stained hand and Boruto's cheek had been torn to ribbons. He was staring at his father with a look of shock and confusion. "Dad…?"

Sakura grabbed Boruto and pulled him away. Naruto howled in rage and pain, clawing now at his own head and the black stains grew. Sakura could only watch in horror. She had only ever seen Naruto rampage twice in her life, and it had been terrifying, but those days were supposedly over. Naruto no longer fought with the fox for control. They worked together and shared the body. But this… this was a rampage. Sakura jumped away from Naruto and looked at Boruto. "Run. Go back towards Konoha and keep running. No matter what you hear, don't stop for anything!"

"But… Dad…"

"Run, Boruto!"

The boy nodded and fled. Sakura watched him for a moment and then turned to Naruto. It was stupid to bring Boruto in the first place. Chuunin or not, the boy was still a child. Sakura stood up and held out her hands. "Naruto… Can you hear me?" Naruto turned to her. He was standing now, shaking. Sakura took a step towards him. "Don't lose to this, Naruto… Stay with us."

For a moment she thought that she would get through to him, but then the toxin took over. He screamed again and lunged at her. She dodged quickly and aimed a punch at him, but he was too quick. He grabbed her fist and threw her into a nearby building. She shook her head and stood. If Sasuke were here, he could put Naruto in a genjustu long enough to knock him out, but Sasuke was indeed, not there. "I'm sorry, Naruto… This is going to hurt…"

She focused chakra into her fist and waited for the enraged Jinchuuriki to run at her. She held back on the punch, not wanting to cause internal hemorrhaging in his brain. At the last minute, after he lunged, she threw her punch and he went flying back, but that didn't even slow him down. He shook his head and came at her again. She jumped out of the way of his claws and landed just as Kakashi landed beside her. "What is it?" he asked her. "I thought we were passed the days of his rage modes."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know. It's not a neurotoxin or I, or the fox, could have handled it. It's something different. I've never heard of a toxin that attacked the chakra network like this, but I think that's what happening. It's attacking Kurama, I think."

Kakashi shook his head. Naruto had moved his attention to something else by that point. "We can't deal with him right now. We have to evacuate the village before Naruto hurts someone."

"I have to stop the toxin!" Sakura snapped.

Kakashi looked at her. "Our priority isn't Naruto right now; it's saving these people." Sakura sighed deeply and looked at Kakashi. "Sakura. Naruto wouldn't want us to abandon everyone else to save him."

"But… Sensei!"

"We're evacuating the village and then we'll deal with Naruto!"

"It'll be too late! If it's progressed to this already, by the time we evacuate the villagers, it will be too late for him!"

Kakashi looked at Sakura for a moment. She saw pain in his eyes. "Then it will be too late…"

They stared at each other. "Okay…" she whispered. She turned to Naruto and watched as he tore apart a building. It would progress. His mind would be destroyed by the toxin, but Kakashi was right. Left to his own devices, he would destroy the village and everyone in it.

"Sai! We're evacuating!" Kakashi called.

Sakura looked back at Naruto one more time before running into the village to get the villagers out.

* * *

Boruto ran, and as he was told to, he didn't stop running, even as he heard his father's scream echo through the night. Running all the way back to Konoha would have been quite a feat had he not been powered heavily by adrenaline.

When he passed through the village gates, it was close to dawn. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, signaling the start of the morning. At first no one paid him any mind as he fled through the village. It wasn't an odd sight to see a young Chuunin racing through the village in the early hours. Most probably thought he was just some kid late for a mission.

That was until he ran right in to Shikadai and his father. They were probably out for a morning stroll before the weight of the day came crashing down on them. Unfortunately, Boruto was bringing that weight with him.

Shikamaru stared down at Boruto for a moment. He took in every detail of the child. His panicked expression, his shortness of breath; The claw marks that were still sluggishly leaking blood all over his already stained vest. "Boruto? How did the mission go?" he asked calmly, though they all knew the answer. "What happened to your face?"

Boruto shook his head. "Dad…" he managed.

Shikamaru blinked. That clearly wasn't what he was expecting to see. "Your father hit you?"

Boruto nodded quickly. "He… I don't think he meant to! He was screaming and I got too close, I think. I don't know what happened!"

Shikamaru turned to his son. "Get Boruto to the hospital for stitches before he loses anymore blood. I need to tell Sasuke about this development." He turned back to Boruto. "Was Naruto alive when you left?" he asked carefully.

"Y-yeah! But he was screaming!"

Shikamaru offered Boruto a smile. "Don't worry, Boruto. The others can handle it." Boruto nodded slowly. He didn't notice Shikamaru's face fall into a serious expression as he turned to Shikadai. "Don't let him talk to anyone else about what he saw," he ordered his son. "We don't need to start panic in the village."


	3. Trapped

_Chapter Three: Trapped_

"You interest us…"

Naruto opened his eyes. He was in a dimly lit cell. His hands were bound with cuffs and gloves the restricted any form of hand signs. He looked down at his torn clothes to notice he was thoroughly saturated in blood, but by the lack of pain, he could deduce that it wasn't his blood. He turned to his legs to notice similar bindings. He rested his head back down on the cold stone with a soft moan.

"We developed that poison solely for you. We were not foolish enough to think that we could defeat you through full confrontation. What we were not anticipating was your reaction to it. It was meant to kill you, but here you are… alive and well."

Naruto finally turned his eyes to the speaker. It was the woman with the purple eyes.

"We thought you might die, but you have an incredible healing factor. We did not account for that."

Naruto didn't give her the satisfaction of answering.

"Tell me… What is your secret? A Bijuu as an ally seems to be a very odd thing indeed." She waited calmly for his answer.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Uzumaki Naruto. Village Hidden in the Leaves. Land of Fire. Rank; Hokage. Birthday; October 10—" He stopped when she raised her hand.

"You think that those little tricks will save you?" She waited again.

"Uzumaki Naruto…"

"Yes, yes. You hurt people, Uzumaki Naruto. That blood is not your own. Don't you want to know who you hurt?"

Naruto stared at her. He remembered none of it. All he remembered was dying from the toxin. He wanted to know how many had died. How many had he hurt. Was his son okay? Sakura? Kakashi? Sai? He could bargain for that information. They had something he wanted.

"Now… I will ask you questions, and for each one you answer, I will answer one of yours. This is a simple game, Uzumaki Naruto, so I would imagine you wouldn't need help learning it. Now… Shall we begin? Just to show that I have no ill feelings for you, I will allow you the first question."

Naruto looked away from the woman. He could get at least one question answered. He could at least know if his son was alive. In this chamber, he couldn't gather sage mode chakra, and even if he could, he was sure there were barriers preventing him from feeling outside. He only had one question, so he'd better make it count. He took a deep breath. "Uzumaki Naruto. Village Hidden in the Leaves. Land of Fire. Rank; Hokage…"

She narrowed her eyes at him. He knew that was how it started. It was a tactic used in interrogation when torture seemed too extreme. Letting the hostage go first was meant to lure the hostage into thinking they had control. They would always have more information, more questions, as long as they kept on asking. Once you started, the cycle would continue until you finally let something slip that wouldn't have slipped otherwise. Usually a hostage liked to hold onto that illusion of control, but that was all it was… an illusion. They had no control as long as they were the ones on the inside of the cell.

She stood. "You killed them," she said coolly. "All of them. And you will kill again. You will kill as long as we need you to." She started walking away. Naruto watched her silently and shook his head, closing his eyes. He didn't believe her. She would have thrown that information at him the second he woke up to break him. She wouldn't have bothered interrogating him if she was sitting on that. They were still alive. They had to be.

* * *

Sasuke had stopped listening to the report the moment they told him that Naruto had not returned from the mission. He didn't hear as they confirmed 200 casualties, including 10 fatalities. He didn't hear them as they recounted their attempts to follow an enraged Naruto, hoping to catch him before the toxin killed him. He didn't hear them when they told him they had lost not only Naruto's chakra signal, but the signal of the hostiles. All he could think about was how it would have gone differently had he come. They never would have lost track of Naruto or the enemy if he had been there. He could have controlled Naruto and Sakura could have stabilized him.

Now they had 190 injured and 10 dead with Naruto's hands stained with their blood.

He lifted his hand to silence Kakashi in the middle of explaining that Sakura had stayed behind to help with the wounded and that a medical team is requested at the village. "Is he dead?" he asked.

Kakashi sighed. "I don't know. Sakura said the toxin was killing him, but we didn't recover a body."

"Then I want Kiba to lead a tracking team. If he's dead, we need to bring him home. If he's still alive, then we need to know where he is and how we can help him."

"Naruto isn't our priority right now," Kakashi said. "Right now we have to figure out how to find and stop these people before they move again!"

"We find Naruto, we find them."

"Naruto could very well be dead!"

"And if he isn't?" Sasuke asked.

"Do you feel his chakra?" Kakashi retorted. "I doubt you do, or you would be telling me that you know Naruto is alive, but you don't know that, so we're having this argument instead! We have to think about those still living!"

"That's real rich coming from you," Sasuke hissed. Kakashi sighed softly and Sasuke regretted it the moment he said it. "Look… There's no reason why we can't have two search teams out. One for the hostiles and one for Naruto. Their starting point would be the same."

Kakashi sighed. "You're the Hokage. It's up to you."

Sasuke nodded. "Then I'll join the search party for Naruto. You will join the team for the Clan."

Kakashi shook his head. "No. As your advisor, I would advise against that. We lost one Hokage this week, we can't lose another."

"Technically, I'm not acting Hokage," Sasuke said. "The 24 hours will be up soon and then the Jounin and the Elders need to vote on the position."

"Right now you're the closest thing we've got. Naruto appointed you Hokage. He covered all his bases before he left. You are acting Hokage."

Sasuke sat down and looked at the hat hanging on the wall. Hokage… He stood slowly and looked at Kakashi. "I want to know everything! If this Clan existed during the Sage's time, then we have to have records of them somewhere! Kiba will lead a team of dogs to track Naruto. You will lead a team of Hyuuga to find this Clan. I need Shikamaru in here! We're going to dig through every record we have of Clans. If they said they were secluded for decades, then the records would say that they disappeared. We need to know where they lived and when they vanished. What kind of chakra did they have? Do they have a blood limit? We need to know these things!"

Kakashi smiled softly. "Now you're thinking like a Hokage."

"Let's go. They won't get away with this!"

An hour later, Sasuke was sitting waist deep in scrolls with Shikamaru and several others, digging for anything about a Clan that vanished. Sasuke rolled up yet another scroll and shook his head. "Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing," Shikamaru answered. "I haven't seen anything mentioning a vanished clan. Extinct, maybe, but none that just vanished off the face of the earth."

Sasuke cursed softly and pulled another scroll off the pile. The time wasn't well documented enough as it was, but now they were grasping at straws. Before these people secluded themselves, they had to have left some evidence of their existence.

"I found something!"

Sasuke turned. Sarada was holding a journal in her hands that was bound with worn and faded animal skin. Sasuke walked to his daughter and smiled. She had insisted on helping with this. The library was her domain, after all. He took the journal and opened it, carefully handling the thin sheets. It seemed to be the notes of an anthropologist. It detailed the lives of a secluded clans in the mountains between the Land of Waterfalls and what is now The Land of Rice fields.

Sasuke sat down beside Sarada as he read about a Clan that treated their own people like slaves. Like the Hyuuga, they had methods of keeping their blood line intact. Those deemed unworthy were sterilized before they came of age. Those who were deemed worthy went through a series of tests and training in order to refine their chakra, or kill them if they were took weak. The writer of the journal spoke of the methods in which these tests were carried out and how they killed those who found them. Sasuke wasn't even sure how this man had made it out with the information.

While it was detailed in their training methods, it wasn't detailed in anything else. The author of the journal had spent a total of three years with the Clan, but he didn't have the documentation to back up that claim. "They're in the Land of Mountains."

"That's basically uninhabited," Shikamaru said. "Since Kagerō Village was wiped out. The tip was used as a base for Madara and Obito at one point."

"Perfect place for them to lay low and make an easy retreat out of the Land of Fire when they're finished. Since the country is basically a rogue nation, they could live lawlessly. At any given point, they wouldn't have to deal with war."

"Kagerō was at war with Konoha about sixty years ago," Shikamaru reminded Sasuke.

"And they lost, and then they were wiped out," Sasuke muttered. "This Clan did nothing to help them." He stood. "I need to talk to Orochimaru."

Shikamaru turned to Sasuke. "What for? What can he tell us?"

"He studies people for fun. Konoha was at war with this country at one point. Jiraiya fought there. Orochimaru probably did too. If anything, he would know if there was a secluded clan hiding out in the mountains of his neighboring country. I'll talk to Mitsuki and take him with me."

"Can I come?" Sarada asked.

Sasuke turned to his daughter. "I'd rather you not," he muttered. "Last time you met Orochimaru, it didn't go well."

"I'm older now, dad," Sarada snapped, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Sasuke sighed, relenting. "Alright, Alright. Might as well grab Boruto while we're at it."

"Is that the entire team you're taking?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah. We want it small. It shouldn't be a hostile mission. Send a hawk. Let him know we're coming and that he needs to clean up before we get there. Also, send a hawk to Kabuto."

"Kabuto?"

"Yes. We're moving operations to the orphanage until further notice. I will run the village from there."

"Are you crazy? What are you playing at?" Shikamaru snapped.

"If what Kakashi says is true, they will come for everyone. The orphanage doesn't have the resources to protect against a full-scale attack. It's also closer to the Land of Mountains. I'd rather work from there."

"This isn't a game, Sasuke! You don't just get to make your own rules!"

Sasuke glared at Shikamaru. "You think I'm not taking this seriously? They took out Naruto in a matter of minutes! I am taking this more seriously than you can imagine! But I have to do this my way, and if my way is working from the orphanage, then that's where I will work from!"

"We are your advisors!"

"You are Naruto's! They are mine!"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. "Team Taka is not under our jurisdiction, and neither is Orochimaru! We keep this internal for as long as possible!"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm going. Send the hawks."

Shikamaru stared him down for a moment, then nodded. "Yessir."

Sasuke sighed and turned to Sarada. "Get Boruto and Mitsuki. We're leaving immediately!"

"Yes, father…" Sasuke stormed out, gripping the journal tightly.

* * *

"I've never seen dad like this," Sarada muttered to Boruto as he packed his bag.

Boruto shook his head. "I don't know. He and my father are rather close…" he said.

Sarada looked at her friend. "We'll get him back, Boruto. Dad doesn't think he's dead…"

"Of course he's not!" Boruto snapped angrily. "Nothing can kill him or break him! I'm not worried!"

Sarada frowned. He was worried. He could hardly concentrate on anything. Many times during his packing, she had to remove something from his bag that he didn't need or didn't mean to pack. But she didn't want to call him out on it. Instead, she smiled warmly at him. "I know," she said quietly. "Naruto is amazing! Nothing will take him from us!"

Boruto offered her a curt nod. "Glad you see it my way," he said. He shouldered his pack. "Let's go!"

Sarada nodded and followed her friend. Hinata had already left, leaving with Kiba's team to track Naruto and Himawari was staying with their grandfather. Sarada knew that Boruto was terrified. He had a massive bandage on his face, covering his entire cheek, to hide the marks his own father had given him.

They met Mitsuki and Sasuke at the gates. "You've never met my parent, isn't that so?" Mitsuki asked as they started for the hideout.

"I have," Sarada said.

"I haven't. I just heard about him through mom and dad."

"Good!" Mitsuki said with a smile. He shoved his hands in his pocket and smiled at Sasuke. "Shall we, Hokage-sama?"

Both Sasuke and Boruto stiffened. Boruto opened his mouth to retort, but Sasuke raised his hand. "We have an Hokage, Mitsuki, and it's not me."

"My apologies," Mitsuki said sheepishly. Sasuke turned to Boruto.

"I will handle things on my own, Boruto."

"Yes, Sasuke-sensei…"

Sasuke nodded and started outside the village where three riding horses and one wagon pulled by two oxen. "Horses?" Mitsuki asked. "Don't you have a quicker way of traveling?"

"I do," Sasuke said, "but we're doing this the old fashion way. I don't want to alert the enemy of my departure by activating any jutsu, and we're traveling with several weeks' worth of supplies. The time we lose will be made up for in being covert in this mission."

Mitsuki looked for a moment like he would argue, but he seemed to decide against it. Boruto walked to the wagon and Sarada walked to her dad. "Do you really think Lord Seventh is still alive?" she asked.

Sasuke looked at his daughter and smiled warmly. "I don't think so. I know so. Naruto's too stubborn to die."

Sarada smiled and followed her father to the horses. She mounted one of the beasts, as did Mitsuki. Sasuke took the wagon's reigns and Boruto jumped onto the white stallion that was left. "Let's go!"

* * *

"Uzumaki… Naruto…" He couldn't finish. He wouldn't go like this, but they had sapped his strength. He couldn't even feel the Kyuubi anymore.

"I could make you talk," the woman said. "The only reason you are still alive is because I find you mildly amusing. But that won't be enough to save you if you insist on annoying me! You don't need to fight us anymore, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto shook his head. He didn't believe this was happening. How could their toxin do this to him? He thought he had been untouchable up until a year ago. Everything had been fine until they came! Then he realized that people could touch him, and now a clan of maniacs were holding him hostage in a dirty, disgusting cell with his body hooked up to something that was keeping him from accessing his chakra. He felt weak and in pain. Every breath was painful.

"I will kill you, Uzumaki Naruto. We do not need your help."

"Uzuma—"

"I will kill your son, then." Naruto shut up. She smiled. "I see. So that is your weakness. Family?" She stood and stepped closer to the cell. "We don't really need you to talk, Uzumaki Naruto. We could run our own studies on your body, but they would take too much time. We want you to answer questions about your reaction to the toxin. It would be most helpful." Naruto didn't make a move to react. "I will kill your son," she repeated. "I will kill your whole family."

"They're going to die anyway," Naruto spat, "according to you, everyone will die. Will my cooperation really make you spare them?"

"Clever man." She stepped away from the cell. "Fine. I don't want to talk to you anyway. We'll run our trials on you. It's the best way to get results."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as she walked away, leaving him in the cell. _Alright, Kurama, if you can hear me, I need you to wake up._ He waited for a moment, but the fox would not answer. _Fine. I guess I'm on my own. Thanks for nothing…_ He added the last sentence with a smile. If the fox could hear him, he'd rather not make the beast angry at him.

He was still in handcuffs and he could hardly move, but if he could escape long enough to get back to Konoha, or at least get a message to Konoha, then they could do something about this group before another village was attacked.

He stared at his feet and shook his head. There had to be something he was missing. Observation wasn't always his strong point. The first thing he had to get rid of were the gloves. If they left him alone long enough, he might could get out. He brought the gloves to his teeth and starting gnawing at the fabric around the wrists. The gloves were connected to his cuffs to prevent slipping out. He had to break that connection.

He bit and gnawed until his gums bled, but eventually he had broken the bonds between the cuffs and gloves. He bit into the metal fingers and tore off the glove. Now that he could move his fingers, he grabbed the bindings on his feet and with a tiny amount of chakra, he made a small rasengan that broke the chain. With his now freed feet, he kicked the link between his hand cuffs. He could already start to feel his chakra coming back. The fox was removing the rest of the toxin and his body was returning to normal. Once that happened, he could be free of this place for good.

 _Guess they bit off more than they could chew,_ he thought. Kurama didn't answer. Naruto couldn't feel the fox's chakra still, but at least he could feel his own coursing through his chakra network. That was all that mattered, really. He walked to the cell door and kicked it open, wincing at the noise it made. It didn't matter, though. He was back to normal enough to be a threat to anyone who would try to stop him from leaving.

"You did well, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto stiffened and turned. The woman was back. "I wouldn't act so cocky."

"I'm not acting cocky. I'm genuinely impressed. Not only have you managed to survive our toxin, you've already recovered enough to escape. I am not impressed often, Uzumaki Naruto, but today I stand corrected. There are creatures on this earth that are truly beautiful. However, you are much too old for our purposes… Your son, however… He will breed quite nicely."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Don't touch my son!" he growled.

"I wouldn't dream of it. I've already contributed a child to our Clan. Your son is far too young to be used properly right now, anyway."

"You're insane! And sick!" Naruto snapped.

"You are much more talkative now that you are out of your cell." She observed. "Why is that? Is it because you feel like you have some control when you are out here? Is the illusion of control something you are so willing to hold on to?"

"It's no illusion," Naruto growled. "I am in control of this situation."

"Are you now?" she asked. "Truly?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. "If you are so in control of this situation, child, then why haven't you fled? Why haven't you attacked me? Why are you standing here?"

Naruto suddenly felt short of breath. Her questions were valid. Why was he still here? He was fast. He could have been on his way to Konoha by now, yet… He was still here.

"You're realizing now that you can't leave, aren't you?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, questioning her.

"Oh, don't give me such harsh looks." He felt his expression soften. She smiled. "You see… You belong to us now, Uzumaki Naruto. You will kill for us, and that toxin will keep you soft enough to continue being ours. I must admit, I'm surprised, really. We were worried… But it seems that we've weakened you so much that you are susceptible…"

Naruto shook his head. He didn't know what she was talking about.

"We merely wanted to kill you, Uzumaki Naruto, but this has turned out far better! Now, if you could kindly get back to bed. We have to keep you medicated, or you might do something crazy, and we can't have that, now can we?"

"No…"

* * *

Mitsuki hadn't visited his old home in months. It was still early for his yearly visit, and he hadn't prepared to see his parent again. Sasuke was tense as they were being led through the forest towards the base entrance. Both Sasuke and Mitsuki knew where it was, and they didn't need a guide, but Mitsuki didn't argue, and neither did Sasuke. The sun was setting, and he wasn't sure coming here was a good idea.

Mitsuki loved and respected his parent, but he didn't feel like now was a good time to be visiting. His parent had a way of taking advantage of situations like this for his own gain.

"Sasuke!" The group halted as a white haired man ran towards them. "I've got it from here, Kai," he told their guide. The man grunted and wandered off.

"Hello, Suigetsu. I trust you received my letter?"

"Of course! Orochimaru has already got the feast ready for his guests."

"We're not here to stay long," Sasuke reminded him.

The man smiled. "No need to. You know how excited he gets when you visit."

Sasuke frowned. "I wish you wouldn't put it that way," he muttered.

Suigetsu smirked. "I just like watching you squirm." Sasuke glared at him. "Karin isn't here, at least."

"At least we've got that going for us," Sasuke muttered.

"Aunt Karin isn't here?" Mitsuki asked, frowning. "I wanted to say hi to her." He looked back at Sarada and Boruto, who were walking without speaking. Boruto was the only one in their group that had never been there.

"I'll tell her you stopped by. But… Someone else is here today."

"Uncle Juugo?" Mitsuki asked.

Suigetsu shook his head. "No." He opened the door to the base and Mitsuki was left standing face to face with himself, but much older.

"Ah, Mitsuki! You're here…!"

Mitsuki narrowed his eyes. "Hello, Log."


	4. Voice

_Author's Note: Yeah, so... Sorry... LOL. I'm a terrible, terrible person! Please don't hate me...!_

Chapter Four: Voice

Log stared down at his "younger brother." His and Orochimaru's deceit had been brought to light not long before the events of the Chuunin Exams. Mitsuki had never fully gotten over it, and while he didn't hate Orochimaru or Log, he still wasn't thrilled with meeting with Log. "I wasn't told you were joining us…" Log muttered sheepishly. Mitsuki narrowed his eyes and pushed passed his brother without a word. Log watched him for a moment before turning to Sasuke and smiling sheepishly. "I trust he's doing well," he said.

"As well as can be expected," Sasuke answered just as coolly. Log sighed. Sasuke was the only one in Konoha that knew of his existence. Technically, he and Mitsuki were illegal, as Kakashi had forbidden Orochimaru from performing any more experiments. Instead of turning them in, however, Sasuke offered to keep it all a secret in return for Orochimaru's assistance for things like this. "We weren't expecting more guests, Sasuke," he said, looking at Boruto and Sarada, who were staring up at him.

'I didn't know Mitsuki had a brother," Boruto muttered.

"He doesn't talk about me much. Name's Log."

"Boruto."

"I know," Log said, earning him a questioning look from Boruto. The man smiled warmly at them and stepped aside, allowing them to enter.

"How do you…"

"He talks about you all the time," Log said with a shrug. "What brings you here, Sasuke-san?"

"That's for Orochimaru to know. Not you."

Log sighed. "You still don't like me, do you?"

"I don't like a lot of people," Sasuke said. They all stopped as Orochimaru stepped into the hallway. "Orochimaru."

"Sasuke-kun!" the man greeted with a smile. "This way!" The group was led into a parlor like room. "It's so good to see you!" The man turned to Boruto and smiled wider. "Naruto's son, then? What a treat! You didn't say he was coming!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Oh, don't give me that look, Sasuke-kun. I'm not interested in Naruto's kids."

"Hey!"

"That's a good thing," Sasuke snapped. He sat down while Log leaned against the wall.

He pulled out a cigarette. "Anybody mind?"

"I'd rather you not," Sasuke started, but trailed off as Log lit up anyway. He sighed. "Anyway. Orochimaru. I need to know if you have any information about a secluded clan living in the Land of Mountains."

Orochimaru leaned back in his chair. "That's a name that hasn't been uttered in Konoha in quite a while. What business do you have there?"

"We have reason to believe that this clan has become active."

"Unlikely," Orochimaru said. "From what I know about them, they want nothing to do with the outside world."

"So you do know about them?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course I do!" Orochimaru snapped with a hint of irritation. Log puffed a cloud of smoke. "They've been mostly secluded, dwelling in a valley tucked between mountain ranges. I have only really dealt with them once. Fascinating group of people, but their methods were a bit too slow for my liking."

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke asked.

"They thought themselves a perfect race," Orochimaru explained. "They wanted to cleanse the world of imperfect creatures, but they could not do so until their breeding program produced a clan large enough. They came to me once to ask about the curse mark jutsu that I had established. I gave them nothing, and they realized they didn't want it anyway. They don't believe in using jutsu like curse marks to power themselves. They prefer being products of breeding. As I said… Their methods were too slow."

Sasuke sighed. "Is that all? It seems odd that you didn't try to study them."

"Oh, I did try!" Orochimaru said. "I was fascinated by them. I got my hands on one of their children once. She was a beautiful thing, but weak and frail. Her chakra was the purest I had ever seen, but her body was not perfect, therefore she could not be bred, so they gave her to me. I ran experiments on her until she perished, then I dissected her."

Log lifted an eyebrow. He wasn't under any illusion that his father was a good man, but Mitsuki looked up to him. The children in the room looked mortified at the way the man talked about killing a child.

Sasuke shook his head. "What did you learn?" he asked

"They've focused their chakra on their vocal cords," he answered. "The girl had no formal training, so I was unable to figure out to what extent they use it, but it seems that is where their clan's jutsu lies. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to figure out how it worked before she died. They are ruthless, Sasuke."

"So were you," Sasuke said. "Is that all you know?" He nodded. "Then we will stay here tonight and be on our way in the morning." He stood.

"Sasuke," Orochimaru said. "Stay here while Log gets the kids settled in. We have much to discuss."

Sasuke sighed and sat down. "Alright, kiddies, off to bed with you," Log grunted.

"Put that out before you walk around," Orochimaru said to his son. Log groaned and put the cigarette in an ash tray.

* * *

Once the kids had left the room, all formalities left with them. Sasuke leaned back in the chair and glared at Orochimaru. "Oh, don't give me such harsh looks, Sasuke-kun."

"Don't call me '-kun.'" Sasuke said. "I need to know what you found out about them. Everything."

"Then tell me why," Orochimaru said. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Information doesn't come free, Sasuke."

"I could kill you," Sasuke said.

"Naruto wouldn't like that," Orochimaru countered without faltering.

"Naruto is not here."

"I just want to know why you're here, Sasuke. Why isn't Naruto with you?"

Sasuke sighed. "Naruto is Hokage. He had better things to do than interrogate a madman. Tell me what I need to know, Orochimaru."

"Tell me what I want to know."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "There have been isolated attacks in the Land of Fire and we traced the source to the Land of Mountains."

"You're lying," Orochimaru said with a shrug. "But, no matter. They have a small village in the Land of Mountains, tucked away in a small valley. You will have trouble finding them because they know how to hide and protect themselves. They are ruthless, Sasuke, and they won't hesitate to kill anyone and everyone that gets in their way; or at least attempts it. And it's very hard to get in their way."

"I'm sure we can handle them. Are you sure you don't know what they do?" Sasuke asked again.

"I don't know what they've done with their chakra, but it's pure, Sasuke. It is the purest chakra I have ever dealt with. These people breed like dogs. Only the best people are allowed to reproduce and those who don't meet their standards die or become sterile. This has produced some of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen; but something happens in the mind of people who are raised like this…"

"And your mind isn't warped?" Sasuke asked. "Our world warps the mind."

Orochimaru shook his head. "That's not what I meant," he said. "They are terrifying… And that was at least two generations ago. I don't want to think what they have accomplished in that much time."

"How are they terrifying?" Sasuke asked. He wanted to get all the information he could while Orochimaru was still talkative.

Orochimaru sighed. "They are beautiful," he repeated.

"Beauty doesn't mean they are terrifying."

"No… but I don't mean beauty as in physical beauty," Orochimaru explained. "I mean that they have something… perfect in them… something I've never seen before and haven't seen since. It's… beautiful in its strength. I can't describe it. They're chakra is not anything you've ever experienced. Just… be careful when you face them."

"Aw, don't tell me you're concerned for me," Sasuke said.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "I'm not kidding," he said. "Don't take those children into that combat zone, Sasuke. They are too young and too inexperienced."

"I will do as I please."

"You won't be taking Mitsuki into it, then," Orochimaru snapped.

Sasuke stood. "He is part of Konoha and he has free will. I will explain the risks and he can stay here or go with us. That's all."

Orochimaru grabbed Sasuke's arm. "I'm serious, Sasuke," he hissed. Sasuke turned to the man and looked at him for a moment. Orochimaru seemed genuinely concerned and that scared Sasuke more than anything else that was happening. "Leave my son out of this."

"Your son will make his own choice, but talk to him if you are so concerned," Sasuke said carefully. He removed his arm from Orochimaru's grip and started for the door. "Are we okay staying here tonight?" he asked.

"Of course you are," Orochimaru said. "Sasuke…" The man stopped in the doorway. "I'm not kidding. This isn't something you can punch your way out of."

"We beat Kaguya and the ones that she feared. There's no need to be afraid of this ridiculous clan. They are simply humans and mortals."

"If you say so…"

* * *

Boruto fell onto the hard bed and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure what he felt about this whole situation. He wanted to believe that his father would be okay, but Sasuke was acting strange and that worried Boruto more than his father actually disappearing. "What if he's not okay?" Boruto asked.

"Don't think about that," Sarada chided him. "We can't think like that. This isn't the first time your dad's disappeared and it won't be the last."

"Yeah… But you didn't see your dad back then. He was so sure that dad was still alive. Now he doesn't seem like he knows. He seems so unsure of the entire situation and I don't know what to make of it either, Sarada. What if dad's not okay?"

"He will be," Mitsuki said. Both Sarada and Boruto turned to their pale teammate. He was the most logical of the three of them and usually wasn't there to offer comfort.

"What if he's not?" Boruto asked again.

"Then he will be," Mitsuki repeated. "If he's not now, he will be. That is what you have to believe and that's all we can do. He will be okay."

Boruto looked back up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. "Mitsuki's right," Sasuke said. Boruto didn't even bother moving to look at the Uchiha. "We can't despair, Boruto. Naruto is fine." He sighed. "As for where we are going from here, that's a different story entirely. I'm going to go get him back and you three are going back to Konoha."

Boruto sat up. "What? No! I'm not going back until I'm back with my dad!"

Sasuke shook his head. "I've already arranged it. Suigetsu will take you home in the morning. I will leave tonight."

"Alone?"

"You'd only slow me down," Sasuke said without emotion. "So, yes. Alone."

"I'm not running this time!" Boruto snapped.

"You will do as your Hokage says!"

"You aren't _my_ Hokage!" Boruto shouted back.

"I am until further notice."

Boruto took his headband and tossed it on the ground. "Then I won't be part of Konoha until further notice!" he challenged. Sasuke raised his hand to slap the boy, but instead he folded his hand into a fist and lowered it.

"Pick up your headband," he said. "I'm not going to stop you from going, but you have to know that this is dangerous."

"We're ninja. What isn't?" Boruto asked.

Sasuke nodded and then turned to Sarada and Mitsuki. "I would prefer if you two listened to me… but I feel like that isn't going to happen, is it?"

Mitsuki shrugged. "It could," he said.

Sarada was less polite. "I'm going dad, whether you like it or not."

Sasuke sighed. "I figured. Then we're leaving in an hour. Mitsuki, talk to Orochimaru before we leave, okay?"

Mitsuki cocked his head. "Why?"

"Because I said so. You aren't going unless you talk to your father, okay?"

"Yessir," Mitsuki said and stood. Boruto watched him go, then turned to Sasuke.

"What was that about?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Rest up and take advantage of Orochimaru's hospitality while we're here. I can't imagine this will be easy."

"Are we going directly there?" Boruto asked.

"No. We're going to the orphanage. There are a few survivors from one of the attacks that we need to talk about, and I want to meet up with Sakura there."

"Isn't that wasting time?"

"Don't undermine everything I do, Boruto, or you will perish and I won't be able to save you. Do I make myself clear?"

Boruto nodded. "Perfectly, _Lord Hokage."_ The two glared at each other for a moment and Sasuke turned, leaving the room.

"Why do you bother him like that? He's trying to help," Sarada said.

"He wanted me to challenge him," Boruto answered without taking his eyes off the doorframe.

Sarada cocked her head. "Why do you say that?"

"He wants to rid himself of the guilt… by making us force ourselves into the mission, he freed himself from feeling guilty."

"I don't understand…" Sarada said.

"Because now he can say he didn't order us to die…"

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes. His body felt heavy and his mind was cloudy. "Kurama…?" he whispered, but, of course, there was no answer. They were keeping him well drugged and on chakra blockers to keep him from escaping. They had to keep him on a dangerous amount of the drugs to even quell his chakra and that amount was making him physically ill. He rolled over and forced up bile. That was all he had in his system.

"You are mildly amusing."

"You said that already," Naruto whispered. His throat was raw from vomiting.

The woman walked around Naruto and he watched her with mild interest. "I imagine you want to know why you're still alive."

"Because… I'm amusing…" Naruto said without caring. At this point, he didn't care what they were doing. It wasn't that he could do anything about it at that moment. He just had to wait until Sasuke got his act together and found their small village.

The sound of chains clicking made Naruto jump. She was removing his handcuffs. "I do find you amusing, Naruto."

"What are you doing?" he asked as she removed all his bindings. He stood, stumbling a little. The blood flowed through his body, warming the areas that had gone numb.

"Come." He followed without protest. It wasn't that he could go anywhere anyway. He was having a hard enough time walking, so running was out of the picture. But now that he was up and moving, he hoped Kurama was working to remove the poison and drugs from his body. The second he could run, he would.

"Where are we going?" he asked, but she didn't even acknowledge that he had spoken. Naruto's eyes widened when he realized she was leading him to a door. By the light shining through the door, he could see that it led outside. "What's the meaning of this?"

She didn't speak. Instead, she opened the door to reveal the area of his imprisonment. He stepped outside and breathed in the cool morning air. "This is your village?"

"It is," she said. They were tucked away in the middle of a mountain range, surrounded on all sides by large peaks. "Welcome to the Village Hidden in the Peaks," she said.

It was beautiful. Even Naruto couldn't deny that. The village was small and children were already darting around, enjoying the morning. For a cult-like group of people hellbent on the destroying the human race, they had a beautiful way of life inside their own walls.

All the houses were perfectly crafted works of art and everything was well designed; sleek, but rustic. Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Why am I out here? Aren't you afraid that I'll run?" he asked.

"You won't run," she said with a smirk. "You are too weak right now. Come." Naruto followed without protest. He felt sick, but he hoped that they would at least feed him if they were going to let him get some fresh air. Naruto looked around as he heard some children shouting and, despite his imprisonment, he couldn't help but smile. If he could forget that he was their prisoner, he could see this as a normal place.

"Why are you showing me your village?" he asked. Already he was beginning to feel better at being able to move around and get fresh air.

"Perhaps to show you that we are indeed not as crazy are you would like to believe."

"Yes, because you show me your village I'm going to think that your genocidal plot is not as crazy as it sounds," Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

"Mother…!" Naruto and the woman turned as a young boy about Boruto's age ran towards them. He stopped. "Is that… Naruto?" he asked. She nodded.

"What do you want, Sachio?" the woman asked, her voice flat. Naruto looked between her and the child.

"I was just wondering where you are going with him," Sachio said.

"I am taking him on a tour of the village. If he is to be working with us, he might as well get to know us."

"I'm not working with you," Naruto protested.

"I'm glad you think that way. Let's go to the school," she said. She turned to her son. "Shouldn't you be anywhere but here, boy?" she asked coolly. Sachio bowed his head and started walking away. Naruto watched him for a moment.

"Why are you so cold to your kid?" he asked.

She shrugged. "He is just a child," she said. "Children are a valuable resource, but I don't have to love them. Our children are taken away from us at an early age and then they are trained at the school that I am about to show you."

Naruto nodded. He wasn't sure he quite understood what was happening. He still felt sick and his whole body was weak, but he was beginning to regain feeling in his chakra system. "Are you going to feed me?" he asked. Maybe if he got some food in him, he might start to feel better.

"Yes… soon."

"Thanks…" Naruto whispered. "Where are we going?"

"School," she said.

"Right…" Naruto muttered. They made it to the small school house and they walked into the building. He looked at the building as he followed her. It was devoid of color and any sort of decoration. "What kind of school is this…?" he asked.

"Our school," she answered without emotion. They stopped near a classroom. There was music coming from inside. "We teach our children to sing," she explained. "They learn how to use their voice to weave jutsu like hand signs."

Naruto shook his head. Why was she telling him this? Wouldn't that make him more likely to counter their jutsu? "I don't understand. What's the point?"

"It's simple, and perfect. Before a person realizes that there is a jutsu being used against them, it is usually too late to do anything," she said.

"Why are you telling me this?" Naruto asked.

"Because I trust that you won't be much of a problem to us." She turned to him. "Now, we must discuss what you will do for us, Naruto."

"I'd rather not do anything for you."

She laughed. "You don't have the option…"


	5. Dream

Chapter Five: Dream

Naruto was now sitting, still slightly dazed, in a room with food in front of him on the table. He still didn't hear Kurama. "You should eat," Sachio said. Naruto rubbed his eyes as if trying to clear his head. "Really, you might starve if you don't eat."

Naruto ran his hands through his hair. His mind was fuzzy and his vision was blurry on the edges, but he wasn't sure why. They hadn't done anything to him. He had even been free to walk through the village with just that woman's son as his guard. "What is her name?" he asked the young boy.

"Who?"

"Your mother," Naruto clarified.

"I don't think I'm allowed to tell you," he said. "Just eat." He pushed a bowl of soup to Naruto. Naruto closed his eyes and brought the food to his mouth without protest. Maybe if he ate, he'd be able to start working his way out of the village. If he just went along with what they wanted, he could gain strength.

"What is this drug they have me on."

"Chakra blockers," Sachio said. "Developed specifically to deal with Jinchuuriki like yourself. We thought it would kill you, but I think it had a different reaction. We didn't exactly have a Jinchuuriki to test it on, after all."

Naruto tried to follow the conversation, but he felt ill and tired. "I suppose," he muttered. They finished their meal in silence and when the last drop was finished, Sachio stood.

"Come."

Naruto stood shakily. He hated how he had been reduced to this, but the steady stream of toxins and other outside forces was slowly turning him weaker. He stumbled after Sachio and wondered if he should try running. It was getting close to sunset and maybe he could lose them in the mountains. He gathered his strength. The food they had given him had been enough to give him some strength. He looked around as he was being led back to his quarters. He could outrun them, and once he got away from them, he could get his body back to normal.

While Sachio was distracted in his own thoughts, Naruto turned and ran towards the mountain. "Hey!" Sachio shouted, running after Naruto. He didn't slow and he hated that he was resorting to fleeing this way.

 _You can wake up any time, Kurama!_ Naruto snapped angrily. He wasn't mad at the fox. He was angrier at the people that were keeping him like this. He couldn't even enter the boiler room with the fox anymore. He dug his feet in the dirt, racing past the people who merely watched him with dull eyes. It was like they knew something he didn't.

Just as he got to the gates of the village, he felt something akin to a bat slam the side of his head. He rolled and laid stomach down on the dirt, trying quickly to clear his aching head. He gripped the ground and struggled to get back to his feet. She was standing there, holding what looked like a club in her hands. "My, my… and here I thought we had come to an agreement, Naruto," she said. She kicked him hard in the side of his head, sending him sprawling on the ground. His vision swam and blurred, focused and then blurred again. His eyes rolled back and he closed them to prevent nausea. He groaned and rolled over, surprising both himself and her as he managed to get back on his feet.

"Interesting. You have quite the spirit, don't you?" she asked.

Naruto held his head and gritted his teeth angrily. He ran at her, trying to get some sort of attack in. She dodged, but he was surprisingly quicker as he dropped to do a round kick to her legs, sweeping them from underneath her. She fell hard on the ground and Naruto spun towards the gates, fleeing out of them without looking back. He had no idea where he was, but anywhere was better than there.

He wouldn't stop running despite his whole body telling him that he needed to stop. Behind him, he heard the sound of an alarm and he ran faster, trying to flee as the sun set around him. He would be lost in the forest soon.

He didn't stop running until the moon was well up in the sky. By the time he finally settled in a hallowed out tree trunk, his head was throbbing and he was worried that if he fell asleep now, he wouldn't wake in time to keep running. He buried his head in his hands and took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. His hands were shaking and he was wondering if he was going into withdraws from the drugs that they had been giving him. Sweat poured from his face and he wasn't liking how shallow his breath was. He rested his head on the tree and closed his eyes. His heart was racing and he was afraid he might be having a heart attack.

The night wore on and his breathing finally returned to normal and his heart had stopped pounding. He hoped that he could now travel down to the valleys and then he could find someone to get him to a village so he could contact Konoha. He stood on unsteady feet and started down. Walking down the mountain was difficult as the ground was uneven. He half walked, half fell down the mountain for a while before he tripped and fell down several meters before coming to a stop against a rock jutting out of the ground.

He coughed. "Okay… That probably means I need to stop," he said quietly. Maybe he was far enough away that he could settle down. He rested his head against the rock and closed his eyes, fading into sleep.

When he woke, the sun was well in the sky. He stood quickly and looked around, but he didn't see anyone from the village. He rubbed his eyes, but then he realized that he could hear music. He messaged the bridge of his nose. That was odd. He looked, but he didn't see the source of the song. He shook his head. It didn't matter. All that mattered was escaping. But he couldn't ignore the sound. He closed his eyes tightly and started forward.

He didn't get far. His whole body felt heavy and soon his legs were too heavy to lift. He stopped again and leaned against the tree. _Kurama?_ He asked, but his connection to the fox was still severed. His finger nails dug into the bark of the tree. The singing got louder. He tried to block it out, but he couldn't. It was… beautiful.

He shook his head, banishing the thought that the music could be anything but wrong. He tried to focus on escaping, but his mind kept wandering back to the singing. He tried to remember what she had said about their vocal cords. Was this a genjutsu? Had he even escaped the village, or was he sitting in his cell thinking that he had managed to flee?

His breath began to sync up to the slow tempo of the song. It was fascinating. He closed his eyes and leaned heavily on the tree trunk. He felt consciousness slipping and he wanted to run, but he was no longer sure if anything was real or not. He slid to his knees and put his head against the trunk with a long sigh. _Fight it…_ he told himself. He could almost imagine Kurama calling out to him, but he didn't know how real that was. Nothing was real.

He forced his eyes opened, but it was an effort. His vision blurred and the forest setting that he was seeing was blurring into a home. He blinked and his eyes scanned the fuzzy doorway. Had it been a late night at the office? He shook his head and looked down at his booted feet. No… he was escaping… work? He had to get home… but he looked around. He was home.

"Daddy!"

He looked up sharply as Himawari ran into his field of vision. He shook his head. _N-no… I'm not in Konoha… Am I?_ He looked down at his daughter and his vision began clearing.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Hinata asked. She too walked up to him. She was slightly taller than him standing on the raised part of the floor.

"This isn't real…" he whispered pitifully.

Hinata cocked her head. "What do you mean?" She reached out and put a hand on his cheek. He leaned into the touch, the feeling of the tree trunk against his face turning into her gentle hand. She caressed his hair, and he felt exhaustion cover his body. "You've been working too hard, Naruto." Her voice was soothing to his sick and tired mind. He looked behind him at the open door leading outside. It was bright and white and he couldn't see the landscape outside. He started for the door. This wasn't real.

Hinata grabbed his hand and he turned back to her. Her eyes were soft with worry. "I'm sorry," he said.

She pulled him towards her. "For what?" she asked, confused. "Come on… dinner's ready." Naruto shook his head and she pulled him close. Maybe he was home. He couldn't even grasp what he had been doing. She leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead. "Come rest now," she whispered in a soft, calming voice.

Naruto nodded slowly and he closed his eyes, allowing her to lead him into the house.

* * *

While Sasuke was speaking with Kabuto, Boruto was training with some of the clones that had been brought into the orphanage. He knew the boy had told him his name at least once, but he didn't remember. Sarada and Mitsuki were watching them spar silently. Boruto had gotten good at fighting the Sharingan, but these kids were tough. He was kicked back and he landed on his feet with a grunt. "Nice one," he said.

The pale child smiled and bowed. "Thank you for the match," he said politely. Boruto nodded and the child hurried back inside.

"Aren't your freaked out by them?" Sarada said.

"Why? Mitsuki is just as pale."

Mitsuki frowned, but didn't protest to the fact. "Yeah, but you didn't have to fight their father," Sarada said.

"Yeah, I suppose," Boruto said with a shrug. The trio headed inside where Sasuke was sitting with Kabuto and discussing the village hidden in the mountains.

"What else do you know?" Sasuke asked.

Kabuto sighed. "I don't know a lot," he admitted. "I was young when Orochimaru had one, and we didn't get far in our experimentation on her."

Sasuke frowned. "Then I guess we need to just go out there and find them." He looked up when he noticed the kids in the room. "We're leaving," he said.

"Already?" Mitsuki asked. Boruto looked to his teammate, then to Sasuke. He didn't want to dwell here longer than they had to. He wanted to get out as quickly as possible and find his father. They had already lost a day and night coming to this orphanage for nothing but the same information that they already had.

Boruto flinched as the phone rang. "Pardon me," Kabuto said. He stood and moved into the office to pick up the phone. Boruto watched as the man scowled. "Sasuke! It's for you," Kabuto called. Sasuke hurried to the office and took the phone. He was only on the phone for a moment and then he ran out.

"We gotta go," he said quickly. "There's a village calling out an SOS." Sasuke ran out of the orphanage with Boruto and the others following him just as quickly. Once outside, Sasuke got them ready to transport to the village. Sasuke looked at the kids and shook his head. "I'm going alone," he said. Boruto narrowed his eyes, but just as Sasuke went to take off, Boruto leapt into the Susanoo, leaving Mitsuki and Sarada with Kabuto. "You idiot," Sasuke snapped.

"Excuse me, but you said I could help my father," Boruto retorted. Sasuke looked like he was going to argue, but they didn't have time. Sasuke shut his mouth and they headed towards the village.

When they arrived at the village, Boruto could already hear the sounds of screaming and battle. They landed and Boruto felt chakra rising from the village. "Stay back," Sasuke said.

"Is he here?" Boruto asked.

"I think so," Sasuke whispered. He ran into the village, leaving Boruto behind as he did. Boruto scowled and ran after Sasuke. He wasn't going to stand back. He ran into the village and froze at what he saw. It was a disaster and blood stained the streets. It had been a complete slaughter. Boruto felt his stomach lurch, but he held back his vomit.

"Naruto!"

Boruto shook himself out of his stupor in time to see his father dart past him. He could feel rotten chakra pass over him as he did. The yellow cloak had been replaced now by a dark red and black mess of disease and decay. Boruto could smell it even after Naruto had vanished. Sasuke landed beside the boy.

"I told you to stay out," he snapped.

"And I told you I'm helping my dad!" Boruto retorted. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," Sasuke admitted. He was staring back into the village with his eyes blazing. "I've never seen a genjutsu redirect chakra like this one is doing." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Come on!" He ran into the fray with Boruto scrambling behind him.

They caught up to the deranged shinobi as he cornered a family. Sasuke didn't even call out. He tackled Naruto and kicked him hard in the gut, sending him flying into the building behind him. Boruto decided to let Sasuke handle that problem while he ran to the family to help them evacuate. "Where are the others?" he asked.

The father looked down at Boruto, dazed. "Others?"

"The other villagers!" Boruto clarified with a hiss. They didn't have time for this.

"There are no others."

Boruto stiffened, then he shook his head and ushered the family of three forward. "What do you mean?"

"They're all dead…" the man whispered dully. Boruto turned to where Sasuke and Naruto were locked in a death match. He supposed it didn't matter if they destroyed the village in their wake.

"What about the other attackers?" Boruto asked quickly. Surely Naruto wasn't the only one who had torn apart this poor place.

"There were a few," the woman answered this time. "But they fled not long ago."

 _And they left dad?_ Boruto thought. That didn't make any sense. Why would they leave Naruto? Were they going after other villages? How many did these people plan to kill?

Once Boruto was sure the family was safe and out of harm's way, he ran back into the village. His eye burned and he could see the faint trail of where Naruto had run and left chakra behind. "Uncle Sasuke!" he shouted and is if to answer, Sasuke came flying by, having been thrown back. "You're pulling your punches," Boruto said.

"I didn't want to kill him," Sasuke groaned, standing up from the rubble. A low growl made them both stiffen and Boruto turned to face his father. He could see Naruto's chakra network now. Everything was tangled and messy. The lines were passing through unnatural knots of chakra at every joint. Black tendrils surrounded his nerves and tangled themselves in his muscles and organs. He blinked and the vision was gone, leaving him staring down the beast he called father.

"What do we do?"

"I don't think I can put him in a genjutsu like that," Sasuke said. "We just have to break the one he's in, but I've landed some hefty blows, so it doesn't look like breaking it with pain is going to work."

 _Then what will?_ Boruto wanted to shout, but he held his tongue. Yelling at Sasuke now would do them no good. Naruto ran at them like a bull and Sasuke shoved Boruto to the side, sending him rolling away. Naruto and Sasuke clashed, Sasuke barely missing getting his face ripped to shreds by the sword he was using to block the blows. Usually being one-handed would be a problem, but it seemed Sasuke had learned to deal with the handicap.

Sasuke kicked Naruto away and purple chakra engulfed him, manifesting in his Susanoo. The creature swung its massive weapon, sending Naruto hurtling through the village and finally coming to a stop in the middle of a newly formed rut.

Naruto stumbled to his feet, shaking his head. He howled and the black mass of chakra surrounding his body expanded. It took shape in the form of a disgustingly disfigured fox. The claws were bony like talons and the tails twisted. Some even looked broken or misshapen. A rotten stench was coming from the creature and closer examination showed that the black chakra surrounding the beast wriggled and moved like millions of black maggots.

"Run, Boruto!" Sasuke shouted. Boruto didn't need to be asked twice. This was officially out of his league. As he ran, he couldn't help but think about what they must have done to Naruto to make a transformation this drastic on him. He didn't want to think about it, though. Whatever they had done, it had to be reversed and soon. As he ran out of the gates of the village, he spun to see the two titans clashing and destroying whatever was left of the village.

The battle didn't last long. Despite the need to end this quickly, even Boruto could see that Sasuke was still holding back in an effort not to kill or severely injure Naruto beyond repair. Naruto, however, had no qualms about going full out, though Boruto noticed that the beast wasn't trying to kill Sasuke; it was merely trying to win.

Finally Sasuke came flying back out of his chakra and landed heavily near Boruto. Boruto ran to the man and looked at him. "Now what?""

Sasuke cursed and struggled to his feet. "Whatever it is, it's making him really difficult to subdue," Sasuke muttered.

"How so?"

"Usually he holds back, even just a little… Not so much right now." The grotesque creature had vanished now. "Let's go. Maybe if we follow him, we can figure out where's he's going."

Boruto nodded and the two ran after Naruto, following his rotten chakra trail. "What do you think it is?" Boruto asked.

"I don't know; some kind of chakra manipulation, and with Naruto's amount of chakra, it's no wonder it turned him into this," Sasuke said. "It would kill anyone without a Bijuu, I'm sure. I don't know if that makes Naruto lucky or not," Sasuke admitted with a dark tone in his voice. Boruto looked at the ground for a moment. Was his father in pain?

"And you can't break the illusion, or put him in another one?"

"Not with his chakra flow already so messed up," Sasuke said, crestfallen. Boruto didn't like seeing Sasuke so broken up about this. Was there a way this could have been prevented? If anything, Boruto felt that he was the one who should be feeling the most guilt, given that he had done nothing to stop this from turning into a full blown mess before now.

Boruto shook his head. At that moment, he couldn't think about that. They had to get his dad safely back to Konoha and then they could go from there. He clenched his fists, annoyed. "What can we do?"

"Knock him out and drag him back," Sasuke said with a shrug. "There's not much else that can be done at the moment."

"Right." Boruto muttered.

The two came to a grinding halt when they became face to face with the woman from the village. "My, my," she said. "You two sure have come a long way…"

 _Author's note: sorry for the delay. I've been working on original fiction, but I'm taking a break from it for now…_


End file.
